[ACI Noob]

One thing I've noticed with the Sapphires is how revealing they are with subpar recordings.  A lot of my music collection is stuff from '70s and early '80's (pre-digital).  This tends to be true with most highend speakers but is definitely true with the Sapphires. 

You can have a $30K system but it will only sound as good as the source recording that is true.

[ajayrav]

Interesting.  While the Sapphire XLs do offer a substantial degree of resolution, I consider them to be a fairly forgiving speaker having a slightly relaxed top end.  Thus in my opinion, sub-par recordings sound far better on the XLs than other uber high end ruthlessly revealing speakers.  YMMV. of course!  Also, your point is well taken....garbage in = garbage out.....

Ajay

[ltr317]

Are you talking about the Sapphire or Emerald XLs?  I have the Emeralds, and my thoughts are similiar to Ajay's.  I find them very smooth sounding, producing less grit on vocals than a lot of other speakers when playing cds.   

[ACI Noob]

Interesting.  While the Sapphire XLs do offer a substantial degree of resolution, I consider them to be a fairly forgiving speaker having a slightly relaxed top end.  Thus in my opinion, sub-par recordings sound far better on the XLs than other uber high end ruthlessly revealing speakers.  YMMV. of course!  Also, your point is well taken....garbage in = garbage out.....

Ajay

I probably should have been clearer.  The Sapphires are very smooth and play all sort of music well (very non-fatiguing).  The issue of subpar recordings is probably a characteristic of all highend systems. 

[ptownkevin]

I've noticed the same - there are a lot of bad recordings and/or digital transfers out there. What makes this so apparent is how fantastic the SapphireXLs can sound when playing well recorded music - check out Allen Toussaint's 'The Bright Mississippi' on Nonesuch. Wonderful musicianship coupled with a very live and immediate sound. Mobile Fidelity's SACD of Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' is another great sounding recording that's over 35 years old. It is shocking how little care goes into most 'pressings' - for lack of a better term. Just don't blame the messenger!

[MarkScrivener]

I find early generation CD's in general sound harsh on most systems. It took a while for the studios to optimize CD's. That said, even MP3's aren't fatiguing through my ACI speakers (I have a set of Emerald LE's in one system and Sapphire XL2's in another). Yes, no system will make a bad recording sound good - but my ears don't get tired listening to my ACI's like they do with some speakers.